Do you Rank Evan Tanner Top Ten MW of All Time

Do you Rank Evan Tanner Top Ten MW of All Time i think he is top ten former MW champ he fought a lot of tuff guys .R.I.P Evan Tanner He will be missed he was a good man and good fighter.

mentalcase

3/1/09 8:55:54PM

at 185 tanner is 5-4 i thinki dont know what weight he was in Pancrase

wins over baroni. lawler, terrel, levens

losses to, franklin, Loiseau, okami, grove

so i dont think he is top ten of all time

jiujitsufreak74

3/1/09 9:18:45PM

i say yes, but only because there isn't enough great MW fighters of all time at this stage of MMA. i was never too impressed with Tanner. people say it's because i am "too young" and other generalizations that are unfounded, but i really don't agree with his high standing. now, i do think he should be in the UFC HoF because he was a ground breaking champion who attracted alot of fans to the sport.

i say yes, but only because there isn't enough great MW fighters of all time at this stage of MMA.

i agree 110%. at this point there are so few great mw fighters. Anderson, Franklin, and Henderson are really the only few guys who are guaranteed MW top 10 all time spots. Evan did beat a few top contenders of the era and brought fans and growth to the sport so for that i would give him a HoF spot and for the moment a low ranking in the top ten mw's of all time.

I really think it is too early to make an all time list for the sport anyways. The sport hasnt been legitimized long enough to make distinctions such as greatest

wiggum

3/1/09 10:57:50PM

Posted by mkiv9secsupra

Posted by jiujitsufreak74

i say yes, but only because there isn't enough great MW fighters of all time at this stage of MMA.

i agree 110%. at this point there are so few great mw fighters. Anderson, Franklin, and Henderson are really the only few guys who are guaranteed MW top 10 all time spots. Evan did beat a few top contenders of the era and brought fans and growth to the sport so for that i would give him a HoF spot and for the moment a low ranking in the top ten mw's of all time.

I really think it is too early to make an all time list for the sport anyways. The sport hasnt been legitimized long enough to make distinctions such as greatest

.

agreed.....not enough middleweights to stand out and make a legit top 10 all time.....if you combine the fact that he was a top lhw at the time, fought tito for the belt, and he was a small lhw, hence the move to mw, then i say yes.....i do feel tho, that in 5 years, he wont be on the top 10 all time list tho, once the sport develops more

Here's where it gets muddled. You could put a number of guys here like Jason Miller, Murilio Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, and probably a few other names.

seanfu

3/2/09 11:37:52AM

Tanner was nothing special. He was inconsistant. The only thing that puts his name in the mix is that he died and had a great story. He once held the MW title in the weakest time in MW history and couldn't successfully defend it.

Here's where it gets muddled. You could put a number of guys here like Jason Miller, Murilio Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, and probably a few other names.

This list shows why it's difficult to rank a guy "all-time" in a weight class (other than HW). I wouldn't dispute that any of the names up there haven't accomplished more than Tanner overall, but Sakuraba (who could probably have made WW at one point) fought mainly at LHW and HW as did Henderson since Pride didn't have a 184 pound division until late in it's history (Henderson fought before and after at lighter weights in the UFC, but Saku only fought as a HW in the UFC). Belfort was a HW and LHW as well for most of his career and I beleive he's only fought once, most recently, at 185. Horn and Shamrock have fought above that weight many times (maybe most?), Franklin and Silva a few times and Marquardt was once fighting at a lighter weight.

So what consititues a MW career?

Either way I thinik Tanner (who was also a LHW for a while) will probably not be remembered as top 10. He was one of the best at his best, which is saying quite a lot, but not not one of the ten greatest across even the short era of MMA.

lohmann

3/2/09 1:41:50PM

Posted by Wolfenstein

He's definetely in the mix, but there are a lot of guys ahead of him. In my opinion he probably falls around the 8-10.

Here's where it gets muddled. You could put a number of guys here like Jason Miller, Murilio Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, and probably a few other names.

This list in sensible except at the back with Belfort's inclusion. I can't remember him fighting at 185 before he fought Terry Martin. I do wonder under which weight class it would be better to classify Frank Shamrock - light heavyweight or middleweight. If middleweight, I would put him over Franklin (but behind Henderson).

If Tanner held a win over one of the nine Wolfenstein listed, I'd question the plausibility of adding him to such a list.

Wolfenstein

3/2/09 3:10:38PM

I guess it does become difficult in terms of what division you place a guy, esecially since a lot of fighters have gone back and forth from MW to LHW etc. As far as Kazushi Sakuraba, I think for the most part he has always weighed around 185-195 in his bouts, particularly with Renzo and Royce.

I suppose Vitor is a little more out there as he's mostly fought at LHW. If he finishes his career out as a MW though I think there's a good argument to categorize him as a MW.

bls1919

3/3/09 9:33:16PM

I liked the guy as a fighter but i cant put him in the top ten MW all time.

I think Tanner is a top ten all-time middleweight due to his wins over Phil Baroni and David Terell. He beat them when they were thought to be the next big thing in the weight class.

zephead

3/5/09 5:30:45PM

Evan is my boy. He had more heart then just about any fighter out there. He was a bluecollar fighter. I went to UFC 53 when Franklin destroyed him. Evans face looked like hamburger meat. But he still came out to fight. Herb finally stepped in and stopped it.

Evan was a true warrior, fight until the bitter end. That fight game needs more guys like him. A lunch pail fighter, that made you bring it.

RIP Evan, you'll always be missed.

And hell yes, he is a Top Ten

jakeiceman

3/7/09 2:20:45AM

Posted by zephead

Evan is my boy. He had more heart then just about any fighter out there. He was a bluecollar fighter. I went to UFC 53 when Franklin destroyed him. Evans face looked like hamburger meat. But he still came out to fight. Herb finally stepped in and stopped it.

Evan was a true warrior, fight until the bitter end. That fight game needs more guys like him. A lunch pail fighter, that made you bring it.

RIP Evan, you'll always be missed.

And hell yes, he is a Top Ten

Said it better than I could have well done man.

And to those saying we only care because Tanner is "dead" are complete asses. I looked up to Tanner because of exactly what Zephead said. He was EVERY mans fighter. He was a guy just like us that showed as much heart as anyone who has ever stepped into the octagon. It pisses me off because all of his supporters are not suffering from Princess Dianne syndrome, alot of people had the utmost respect for him before and after he died and to act like everyone just jumped on the badwagon after he passed is rediculous and disrespectful.

Jackelope

3/7/09 2:38:27AM

Even as a huge Evan Tanner fan I have to say that no, he won't be one of the greatest MW's of all time. Is he a fighter on the greatest heart of all time list? I'm sure he'll be on that list for a LONG time.

And JJFreak- I know you and I have had our disagreements where Tanner is concerned in the past, but if you ever thought by calling you young that I meant you didn't understand what is a good fighter, you'd be wrong. I only ever in the past said you being young meant you couldn't yet quite understand the man and the struggles that was/were Evan Tanner. As I've said 100,000 times- what defined Evan Tanner to me was not the man inside the Octagon. The man inside the Octagon was awesome, but he truly transcended the sport as a person outside of it.

Joe Rogan said it best when Evan Tanner died- "Evan Tanner has left this world a little less interesting." For almost 99.9% of other fighters the quote would have been "MMA lost one of it's own today" or "The MMA community sends out its thoughts and prayers to the family of..." Not for Tanner.. he trascended the sport.

Id have to say nay. Evan seemed like a really good guy who went through some tought times but managed to pull himself through. But I can think of alot of MW fighters who id rank above him in an all times ranking list.